Francis: Ward should lose interim tag and be hired full-time

[Atlantica]

Logic and common sense and your eyeball test tells you the coach choose option A but chooses option B. Option B could be no timeout or playing an unexpected goalie. Your team loses and it seems obvious the coach made the wrong decision. We assume the coach ignored the obvious and blame the coach for the outcome.

But how do we know this is an accurate inference? These coaches are professionals with access to far more information than the causal fan. Perhaps these decisions were made given situational or contextual factors fans are simply unaware of? Anyway, they might be "bone-head" decisions but they also may not be. I will defer to the GM and others more in "the know" to decide if the coach is prone to "bone-head" mistakes.

[troutman]

I'm not excited about Boudreau.

[Bingo]

Win loss record is good ...

But most of the team's underlying numbers unde Ward are middling (15-17th). The exception is high danger splits which is good.

He had the 8th highest PDO in the league under his watch ...

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Should go after Laviolette, but Ward will be the frugal option which is the Flames M.O when it comes to coaches.

After relocating the team...the chances of Laviolette coming to Calgary are low

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Press Level

I would like to see Treliving conduct an actual search for a head coach and conduct interviews with multiple candidates... for the very first time as a GM.

This is false, revisionist history. Treliving conducted an extensive coaching search leading up to his first hire, and it resulted in Gulutzan. One could argue that that search also produced Ward, since he was short-listed and interviewed by the Flames for their HC vacancy back in 2016.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by codynw

This is Brad Treliving's last chance hiring a coach unless the team has some serious playoff success with the next one. Is Geoff Ward the guy to risk that on after what we've seen so far? I don't believe he is.

Possibly so, but I am unconvinced.

I think if Treliving is indeed operating under strict budgetary constraints when it comes to coaching personnel, then I would imagine the trade-off for that would be some latitude extended in how these coaches perform. If ownership loosens the purse-strings this time around, then yes, this will most certainly be his last coaching hire. But if they don't, don't be surprised to see him survive yet another one.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

A two week hot streak to start his tenure really hides the fact that the Flames record has been incredibly mediocre since. Ward is Gulutzan with a little more awareness. That, frankly, is not good enough.

But if we do go with a new coaching staff, for the love of god, go with an entirely new staff. There's no reason why Gelinas and Sigalet should be immune the way they have been previously.

This exactly. If they bring in a new head coach let him bring his own guys. Goaltending has been an organization weak point since Sigalet was hired. I get that he hasn't been given elite talent to work with but I haven't seen much improvement year over year from netminders under his tutelage. Rittich is still having the same issues of folding with an increased workload in year three with the team. It's time to look a bit deeper than just changing the head coach as it's a little too Oilers for me to have a ex-player and organizational guy like Gelinas shoved down the throats of every new coach.

[TheIronMaiden]

The Flames need consistency. They are fast approaching Oiler levels of coaching carousel.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

The Flames need consistency. They are fast approaching Oiler levels of coaching carousel.

I would argue a main symptom of a coaching carousel is the continual hiring the wrong coaches. I think we all know well the history of ex-Flames head coaches since 2006. They aren't deemed worthy by the rest of the league to be a head coach which is telling in itself that the organization has a habit of picking mediocre/poor coaches. I think Tippett will be coaching the Oilers for quite a few years.

[btimbit]

We do need consistency I'd agree with that, but that's a lot easier when you have a proven guy in that role.

[shogged]

Considering the caliber of coaches available this offseason, I can’t imagine Ward returns as head coach.

[Ashasx]

With the quality of coaches available right now, this position is asinine.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is false, revisionist history. Treliving conducted an extensive coaching search leading up to his first hire, and it resulted in Gulutzan. One could argue that that search also produced Ward, since he was short-listed and interviewed by the Flames for their HC vacancy back in 2016.

Agreed on the first part, but honestly, trying to give Treliving double credit for a search on the Peters hire is also an attempt at revising history.

It's fair to say that Treliving identified Peters as a good candidate with the first search and used that belief for his second hire - but three years later, the entire market would have changed. So making no effort whatsoever to consider options is a black mark on his record. It felt lazy at the time, and Treliving is very fortunate that it worked last year. I don't see him getting the long term extension he got without that.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Agreed on the first part, but honestly, trying to give Treliving double credit for a search on the Peters hire is also an attempt at revising history.

It's a good thing I never did anything of the sort.

It's fair to say that Treliving identified Peters as a good candidate with the first search and used that belief for his second hire - but three years later, the entire market would have changed. So making no effort whatsoever to consider options is a black mark on his record. It felt lazy at the time, and Treliving is very fortunate that it worked last year. I don't see him getting the long term extension he got without that.

I don't think this is an accurate depiction of the timeline either. I don't believe Peters was ever interviewed in Treliving's coaching search. Treliving came to know Peters in their time shared together at the 2016 IIHF World Championships. It was there that he identified him as the kind of coach he wanted for his team. The window of opportunity presented itself two years later, and he hired Peters as soon as he became available.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Yes. Another mid tier coach that would never be hired as HC on any other team is the answer. Totally. Didn't work the first 50 times but yeah, this is time it will for sure. His small unsustainable sample is enough to prove to me that he is the best available option.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

It's a good thing I never did anything of the sort.

Crap, yeah. I saw Ward in your post and my brain thought Peters. Sorry about that.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

Yes. Another mid tier coach that would never be hired as HC on any other team is the answer. Totally. Didn't work the first 50 times but yeah, this is the one.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

These simplistic, binary sorts of responses don't sufficiently address the problems and the solution. Selecting a "mid-tier" or rookie head coach could very well prove to be an excellent hire, so long as it was the right coach. Installing a veteran, career coach with a long track record of success could likewise prove to be a bad idea if they don't pick the right one.

Just because a coach is inexperienced does not on the face of it mean he is a poor hire. There is a hell of a lot more to the equation than that.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

These simplistic, binary sorts of responses don't sufficiently address the problems and the solution. Selecting a "mid-tier" or rookie head coach could very well prove to be an excellent hire, so long as it was the right coach. Installing a veteran, career coach with a long track record of success could likewise prove to be a bad idea if they don't pick the right one.



Just because a coach is inexperienced does not on the face of it mean he is a poor hire. There is a hell of a lot more to the equation than that.

I would they prefer they go with an experienced, winning hand instead of some guy by default. Not a binary response at all. Sick of the half measure coaching hires by this organization. Enough is enough. We've had one impactful coach during this 30 years of wandering the desert. It is not a coincidence

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is false, revisionist history. Treliving conducted an extensive coaching search leading up to his first hire, and it resulted in Gulutzan. One could argue that that search also produced Ward, since he was short-listed and interviewed by the Flames for their HC vacancy back in 2016.

Taking his time was probably his downfall.

When you look at who the other candidates were rumoured to be at the time, they were all snapped up in the days prior to hiring Gulutzan. I can't help but think Treliving didn't get the guy he wanted and had to settle for someone further down his list. And Gulutzan didn't seem to be on any other team's radar at the time.

Honestly, I think the team has some roster issues that need to be addressed. Other teams in the division improved over the year where the Flames were complacent it seems. Ward probably got the most out of the players any other coach would have.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Taking his time was probably his downfall.

When you look at who the other candidates were rumoured to be at the time, they were all snapped up in the days prior to hiring Gulutzan. I can't help but think Treliving didn't get the guy he wanted and had to settle for someone further down his list. And Gulutzan didn't seem to be on any other team's radar at the time.

Honestly, I think the team has some roster issues that need to be addressed. Other teams in the division improved over the year where the Flames were complacent it seems. Ward probably got the most out of the players any other coach would have.

Or BT thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. I think he decides who he is going to hire and that's that. Doesnt matter who else is out there. He doesn't even interview people really from what I've read. I honestly I think he wants a tepid yes man who won't threaten his own job security. He wants a lesser hockey man who will be happy in his role and not threaten his. A darryl sutter type hire just wont happen because that would be BT hiring someone who can slip into the GM role during a power struggle.